Hitman Absolution makes Agent 47 the target, offers new engine

We saw both a hands-off demo and a trailer for the new Hitman game, and the …

Agent 47 is on the run. The police are after him, and he's forced to skulk around a library, taking them out one by one. In a brief action sequence, he runs from a police helicopter, and the rush of air from the rotors blows elements of the environment this way and that. He finds himself in a room full of hippies, and in a moment of improvisation, he smashes a glass bong into the face of a police officer before stealing a uniform and sneaking off into the night.

Hitman Absolution is running on the new Glacier 2 engine and it looks very pretty. The big change isn't the graphics, however, it's the fact that while there will be more traditional Hitman levels, the game also turns the tables on Agent 47 by making him the target.

The game will switch between open and linear sections

Agent 47 can activate "instinct" mode at any time. He can see through walls to find his pursuers, and a burning line on the ground will even show you their path. I asked Martin Amor, the game's technology manager, if they're worried about finding themselves in a position much like Batman: Arkham Asylum, where players played with the detective view through the whole thing. He shook his head and pointed to an indicator at the bottom of the screen—you can only use the instinct view for a certain amount of time. You can recharge the ability by performing stealth kills or otherwise acting like an assassin.

In the video we saw sneaking, as well as action sequences such as the helicopter escape scene. "We try to vary it. There are levels that are like the traditional Hitman games, where you're placed in the middle of a level and you have to figure out what to do and you approach all the characters and you have to solve the puzzle... and there are levels that are more linear," Amor said. "The first section of the library is quite open; you can take many different paths," he explained.

Then things become more linear and the situation becomes more desperate for Agent 47. "We tried to balance the original Hitman game with some action sequences here and there," Amor explained. "We think it makes for a nice mix."

I asked about how much of the game you will spend being hunted, versus the amount of time you will spend as the hunter. "I'm not going to go into too much detail on that because it has to do with the story, and we want to talk about that at a later stage," he said. He understands why it's odd to see our favorite hired killer as the target of such an intense manhunt. This isn't what we're used to from the series.

"Maybe it's a bit unorthodox to show this focus on this right now, but we thought it gives a nice cinematic experience," he said. The note about the gaming being cinematic is telling: the scene where Agent 47 walks past the police wearing their uniform was taken from The Professional, and the score was very reminiscent of Inception. These are two influences I am comfortable with.

The game looks great, and we can't wait to learn more details. Hitman: Absolution is coming to the PS3, 360, and PC in 2012.